But a lot more research is needed before ecstasy-assisted psychotherapy ever would be made legal in the United States, said Gary Gudelsky, a University of Cincinnati professor who has spent 25 years studying side effects of the drug on the brain.

"It's got a lot of baggage to overcome," Gudelsky said.

The effectiveness of the drug known clinically as MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-methylamphetamine) is the focus of a privately financed study involving at least 12 U.S. military veterans, police officers and firefighters with post-traumatic stress disorder. The study is being conducted in conjunction with the Medical University of South Carolina and the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a Santa Cruz, Calif.-based nonprofit that raises money for research aimed at developing psychedelics and marijuana into prescription medicines.

Backers of the research say ecstasy's ability to induce feelings of euphoria and affection allow users to become comfortable discussing difficult or traumatic emotions and memories. That's been proven in some preliminary studies in the U.S. and abroad, Gudelsky said.

A popular rave-party drug in the late 1980s and 1990s, ecstasy was banned from production in the U.S in 1986 and listed as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. It shares that category with other drugs that include heroin and that the government has deemed to have no medical use and a high potential for abuse.

However, in recent years, the Food and Drug Administration has approved ecstasy's production for research in some U.S. labs.

Participants in the study in California, under way now, receive weekly non-drug related psychotherapy sessions, along with three daylong therapy sessions involving varying levels of ecstasy, according to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. The findings will be compared with a previous study that examined the use of ecstasy with women survivors of sexual abuse and assault.

Updates on the study are being posted on the association's website. Officials with the organization could not be reached for comment.

Ecstasy is similar to methamphetamine in its chemical makeup, but it has very different psychological and physiological effects in its users, Gudelsky said.

"If I gave 50 people MDMA, I'd have 50 new best friends - not because they are tripping but because they would just feel more connected," he said.

That's because in low doses the drug increases serotonin levels in the brain, which impacts oxytocin and prolactin hormones that are associated with trust and bonding. Ecstasy is not highly addictive, like heroin or meth, and Gudelsky said most deaths associated with it have been the result of users who have mixed it with other illegal drugs, or drug dealers who have mixed it with other compounds.

Much of Gudelsky's research has been on the drug's impact on the hormone serotonin during and after prolonged periods of use. His research documents the damage heavy ecstasy abusers do to their brains, including memory impairments and a depletion of serotonin levels, which play an important part in learning, mood and sleep among other areas.

Though he's not involved in the ecstasy study on post-traumatic stress, Gudelsky said he's watching the project closely.

"I think there is some very interesting dialogue that's going to come down the pipe in terms of risks and benefits of its use, especially as we have a large number of people coming back to the U.S. with PTSD," he said. "I think it's politically a difficult (treatment) for the federal government to recommend, considering it has spent years trying to paint this drug as something that can blow holes in your brain."

As many as 20%, or 1 in 5, of the 2.5 million soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan could one day suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to estimates from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Cincinnati's Veterans Affairs Hospital sticks with "evidence-based treatments" and will play a key role in a $9 million study of PTSD that looks at cognitive processing therapy, which focuses on a patient's thoughts and feelings, and prolonged exposure, which allows patients to work through painful memories by re-experiencing their traumatic event or events in a safe environment, said Kathleen Chard, an expert on post-traumatic stress at the University of Cincinnati and director of the hospital's PTSD division.

"I don't think it's appropriate to make our veterans guinea pigs," she said. "We know that ecstasy cannot be used long term. The jury is still out on whether, short term, there is enough benefit to be helpful enough with PTSD."

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What is PTSD?

It's a type of anxiety disorder that some people get after seeing or living through a dangerous event. People who have post-traumatic stress may feel stressed or frightened even when they're no longer in danger. Anyone can get PTSD at any age - including war veterans and survivors of physical and sexual assault, abuse, accidents, disasters and many other serious events.

Symptoms of PTSD include re-experiencing the traumatic event, such as flashbacks or repeated upsetting memories; avoidance, such as feeling detached or having a lack of interest in normal activities; and hyper-arousal, such as difficulty concentrating or startling easily.